Image 1: HealthLink CEO Michelle Creighton farewells Tom Bowden.
Image 2: HealthLink CEO Michelle Creighton speaking at the event.
Australasia’s largest health IT network, HealthLink, celebrated its 25th anniversary with an evening celebration at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.
More than 150 people – including many of New Zealand’s Who’s Who in health IT – gathered at the iconic building this month to acknowledge HealthLink’s unparalleled contribution to Health IT in New Zealand and Australia.
Guests were officially welcomed to the museum with a powhiri, performed by the museum’s resident traditional Māori performing group, Haka the Legend. The group performed songs and dances and finished with a spine-tingling haka.
Tom Bowden farewelled
The quarter-century celebration was also a chance to farewell HealthLink co-founder Tom Bowden, who stepped down from the role of CEO at the end of last year.
HealthLink started up in 1993 when The HealthLink Service was launched by a subsidiary of Telecom New Zealand. It began delivering pathology results to 100 general practices.
New HealthLink CEO Michelle Creighton acknowledged Bowden’s pioneering spirit, determination and hard work in getting HealthLink off the ground and to the place it is today, as well as the hard work of everyone in the HealthLink team.
In his farewell speech, Bowden talked about the importance of unifying the health system.
“It’s been exhilarating … innovation is about hard work ... I’ve always viewed a problem as a learning opportunity.”
He said he was excited about his new role as an independent consultant.
HealthLink focussed on looking forward
Creighton said the evening was about celebrating HealthLink’s incredible history, but also about looking forward to the next 25 years.
“Twenty-five years doesn’t happen by accident,” she said.
She also acknowledged Irish global healthcare technology specialist Clanwilliam Group, which took a majority shareholding in HealthLink in 2017. Clanwilliam Group CEO Howard Beggs sent a congratulatory message via video link.
Other speakers included NZHIT board chair and director of digital health at Deloitte Kate Reid, HealthPathways and eReferral clinical leader at Northland DHB Di Davis and Ministry of Health deputy director-general data and digital Shayne Hunter, who said, “HealthLink, you’ve done an amazing job. I honestly don’t think New Zealand would be where it is today if we didn’t have HealthLink.”
RNZCGP medical director Richard Medlicott described HealthLink as having been “a really important glue in the New Zealand health system for a long time”.
Several messages of congratulations were also read out from people unable to attend in person.
Creighton said HealthLink was looking forward to its next chapter.
“It’s about working collaboratively across organisations to improve outcomes for patients. Technology may change, but HealthLink’s goals don’t.”
Source: HealthLink media release, 30 April 2019
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